Natures Gentlemen

Papa would wipe his head with a beret
bleached by sweat and years,
he wore a kerchief, I suppose you would call
red, similarly bleached around his neck.
He took me to a store
that sold nick nacks
this and thats
bought me a bird table
and a scarf.
I still have the bird table
and the scarf
has had so many reincarnations since.


My Papa, played the peasant
but he wasn't
went to the taxes
in wellies and tatty trousers
tied with string
and fought;
They reduced and when he lost
he drew the money out
in cash
in an envelope
tied with string
that they tied the boxes
meant for the market.

Peasant is a loose term
for those who don't understand
that natures gentlemen
come from the ground
the cantankerous sods that they are




Poetry by Elle The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 467 times
Written on 2010-12-05 at 15:55

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NicholasG
Tales of a dying breed! Today there is no sense wasting reason on bureaucrats, is there.
Fine bit of time machination :-)
Nick
2010-12-06


shells
I too, like Jim felt the nostalgia of this piece, I understand this perfectly, especially your final stanza and my father wore a beret.
2010-12-05


countryfog
'Peasant' is a term never much used here in America . . . I suppose it's the "all men are created equal" belief (more hope than fact perhaps, though we are still a work in progress).
There is nostalgia in your poem, but also respect and love. I suspect he would be pleased with it, if in a cantankerous way.
2010-12-05



This makes me incredibly nostalgic.
Why it does, I don't know. I had nothing
like it in my life. Perhaps I wish I had.

I've always strived to be cantankerous.

jim
2010-12-05


John Ashleigh
A light-spirited peice, Elle. I enjoyed reading this. Thanks for sharing.

Your friend,
John.
2010-12-05